Broken Clan
by ShellfurOfSeaClan
Summary: They were the fifth Clan. Forgotten even by StarClan, driven away to scatter and die. Once, they lived in the forest beside the other four. They marked their territory, fought intruders, battled courageously against their rivals. They, too, had secrets just like any other...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A shriek of pain ripped the night.

Claws flashed silver as the cats fought, writhing and snarling at each other. Their eyes luminous and glowing eerily. The space between the trees was packed with cats, and their yowls echoed through the dark woodland. The clearing was so crowded that, from above, with the moonlight glimmering on once-glossy fur clumped with blood, the forest floor seemed to be covered with a heaving sea of cats.

From above, hidden and silent in the dark branches, two eyes gleamed. Waiting for his chance, the cat watched his enemies. Waiting for one to come near. His claws slid from their sheaths, sinking through the bark of the branch where he crouched as though it were as fragile as a leaf.

Then, swift as a flash of lightning, he was gone. He dropped like a stone from the tree, plunging down with claws outstretched. The force with which he landed made the cat beneath him crumple, his legs folding helplessly beneath him, leaving him vulnerable to the merciless SkyClan cat.

The cat slowly dug his claws through the ThunderClan warrior's fur, feeling them meet flesh. The warrior spat and squirmed beneath him, fighting to get free. The SkyClan cat's lip curled, exposing sharp white teeth. _How weak_. Fierce satisfaction surged through him and he slowly brought his head down to the other's ear.

"Your Clan will pay for everything," he hissed, his voice soft and as full of venom as a snake's. "Nothing will suffice what you – all of you – have done to me." His claws raked over the shape beneath him, and the SkyClan warrior felt again that wild satisfaction as blood flowed over his paws. Still, it was not enough to please the hunger for revenge that burned inside him. If anything, it made him even more furious, even more desperate to extinguish it. He knew how far he would have to go until that thirst was quenched.

And he welcomed it.

But no – a terrified cry split the noise of the battle. The SkyClan tom's ears flew up. His eyes widened in horror. _Not again. StarClan, no._

He was leaping away through the battle, the ThunderClan cat forgotten. Fear choked him, lapping at his insides and blurring everything with a black fog of dread. But the tom knew, however much he dreaded it, he must be there.

She was dying. He couldn't just run away like a frightened kit. But still, some part of him quailed at the thought of looking into one more cat's blank and sightless eyes, where he could remember seeing love and warmth directed at him.

"Dapplesong!" the voice tore from his throat of its own accord. The cat had nothing more in his mind: he only wanted to get to her, to find her before the last breath left her body. His muscles merely worked to serve his purpose. Everything else was beneath his notice.

Why should he care? What else could there be to take note of, when Dapplesong was in peril? The warrior weaved through the fighting cats, until he reached her. He stopped dead, his paws frozen in their tracks. Dapplesong lay sprawled in a pool of her own blood. Long gashes rippled over her soft tortoiseshell fur, marring her beauty. The queen's face was filled with pain and, beyond that, a strange calm.

"Dapplesong," the cat repeated her name, but this time his voice came out as a hoarse whisper. Nevertheless, her cloudy green gaze flicked towards him. Her soft look alone was enough to let the tom stumble forward to her side.

"This is all the doing of StarClan," he spat suddenly, raising livid eyes to glare at the heavens above. "Why must they take everything I love away from me?"

"No," Dapplesong rasped. Her flanks heaved as she tried to gather the strength to speak. But she knew, like he did, that her life was seeping away from her as steadily as the blood trickled from her wounds. "No," she repeated again. Every word seemed to have to be dragged from her, and it took every scrap of strength she had left. "Isn't StarClan's fault." Her breathing was coming in sharp gasps, and she panted the words.

"It isn't," the tom agreed suddenly, his eyes growing hard. Tiny flames leapt in their amber depths, smouldering cold orange fire. "It's the other Clans' fault. They will pay for _everything_." He bent his head down to touch noses with her. "I promise," he whispered. "I will avenge your death."

The light faded from Dapplesong's eyes. The warrior drew back, anger thundering through him. Spinning around, he leapt back into the battle with his claws unsheathed and teeth bared. He slashed and tore at his enemies with blind fury. Everything was shrouded in a red mist, and a strange rushing noise in the SkyClan cat's ears drowned out all other sounds.

The other Clans would pay. Every single last one of them.

And the he didn't care how far he went to avenge all his loved ones.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _Cloudstorm!_ Rainpaw's eyes widened in surprise. She spun around, her gaze searching the crowd. Older cats towered around her on long legs, and countless eyes flashed in her direction, but she sought one gaze in particular. Pale, clear blue like a tumbling stream, surrounded by grey and white fur. Cloudstorm was making his way towards her, gracefully weaving in between the SkyClan cats. His expression was filled with delight. As he passed another young warrior, Birdflight, the she-cat stretched her neck forward and ran her muzzle along his flank in congratulations.

When the tomcat reached her, Rainpaw was startled by how tall he was. His legs were slender and graceful, and he held himself with an air of pride and dignity, but there was a blaze of warmth in the way he looked at her. The kit was painfully aware of her own short, stumpy legs. _I wonder whether I'll ever be that tall_. Where she was covered in fluffy, downy kit-fur, Cloudstorm's coat lay thick and sleek over his muscles. _Will I ever look like a warrior?_ Rainpaw found herself thinking wistfully.

"Welcome, young one," a purr rumbled deep in his throat, and he bent his head down towards her. Overcome with the excitement of having such a great mentor, Rainpaw stretched her muzzle forward eagerly to touch noses.

The SkyClan leader's voice sounded from where he stood commandingly on the branch of the thorn tree. "Teach her well, Cloudstorm," Flystar meowed.

Cloudstorm raised his head, turning away from Rainpaw to meet the amber gaze of his leader. "I will, Flystar," he vowed, his voice ringing confidently through the sunlit clearing. There was a flash of nervousness in the blue depths of his eyes. He was so young, barely an apprentice himself, Rainpaw realised. He had the disadvantage of experience, and the Clan could argue about Flystar's choice. He felt the need to prove himself.

Flystar flicked his long tabby tail, and leaped smoothly down from the tree in one graceful, fluid motion. His brown fur flashed through the air; then a moment later his paws thudded on the hard-packed sandy floor of the SkyClan camp. The ceremony was over.

"You're an apprentice, Rainpaw!" a warm meow made Rainpaw turn. Her mother, Silverstrike, was stood gazing at her, full of love and pride. The beautiful silver tabby rasped her tongue over her kit's muzzle.

"Silverstrike!" Rainpaw mewed in protest, wriggling away uncomfortably. She was an _apprentice_ now! She couldn't let the rest of the Clan see her looking like a kit.

Silverstrike merely purred, oblivious to her daughter's embarrassment. Her yellow eyes suddenly turning sombre, as she drew back she meowed softly, "I know you'll be as good an apprentice as Brightpaw was."

 _Brightpaw?_ Rainpaw stared at her in disbelief. She pulled away, flattening her ears. A dull anger stabbed at her stomach. Her mother wanted to bring up Brightpaw _now,_ at Rainpaw's own apprentice ceremony? She stiffened as she felt Cloudstorm's tail resting over her shoulders. "Rainpaw?"

"I want to live as myself," Rainpaw muttered, turning away from her mother in a mixture of horror and dismay. Would Silverstrike ever be able to let go of her first kit? "Not moulded on the memory of a dead cat." _To put it bluntly_. But Rainpaw had never met her older sister; she hadn't been born then. So why _shouldn't_ she talk of Brightpaw like that? It didn't hurt _her_.

"Of course," Cloudstorm murmured gently. Rainpaw looked up to cast him a grateful glance, but something caught her eye. The elders and some of the senior warriors were huddled together, muttering and casting the new apprentice cold, dark looks. Rainpaw felt her belly twist in unpleasant surprise. "What are they doing?" she mewed.

"Oh, Rainpaw," Cloudstorm blinked anxiously. Was he reluctant to tell her? "It's... because you're only three moons old."

Rainpaw tilted her head to one side, looking up at him questioningly. "So? All the other apprentices had their ceremonies at three or four moons. What's wrong with that?"

Cloudstorm blinked again, slowly. "They aren't happy with Flystar's decision to apprentice kits so young. It's part of the warrior code to apprentice kits at six moons."

Rainpaw frowned, thinking about this. She couldn't see anything wrong with it. But as she was about to ask another question, Cloudstorm interrupted her. "So, do you want to see the territory or not?" he meowed teasingly.

"Yes!" A rush of excitement chased away Rainpaw's questions immediately, and new ones replaced them. "Can we see ThunderClan? Do RiverClan actually dive under the water to catch fish?"

"Easy," Cloudstorm purred, his eyes twinkling at her enthusiasm. "We have the whole day. So let's go!" He took off, charging towards the bracken tunnel.

"Wait for me!" Rainpaw mewed, her paws flashing out in front of her as she pelted after her mentor. Air rushed through her fur and her tail rippled out behind her as she ran in great bounds to catch up to the longer-legged warrior.

The bracken tunnel arched ahead of them, the plants' heads bobbing in the breeze as if welcoming the apprentice. How many times had Rainpaw stared longingly through the lush green fronds, wishing to be out hunting and fighting with the warriors? Wondering what happened beyond the tiny shell of peace that was the SkyClan camp?

Rainpaw trotted after Cloudstorm, her paws tingling with excitement. They emerged from the cool bracken, and Rainpaw's eyes grew wide as she watched the forest open up around her for the first time. Early morning mist had yet to be dissolved by the rising sun, so the woodland seemed to fade away into the distance. Birds twittered and light twinkled in gaps between the leaves of the canopy above.

Rainpaw was sure her eyes were as round as pebbles. How far did SkyClan's territory stretch? The woods seemed endless, and Rainpaw had no idea where the boundaries were. "This is great," she whispered, closing her eyes and breathing in the fresh smells of the trees.

Cloudstorm nudged her gently, jolting her back into reality as he meowed, "Come on, I'll show you the training hollow." He set off through the trees, and Rainpaw followed joyfully.

The training hollow was a large dip in the forest floor. It wasn't free of trees like a clearing would be, but the floor was completely covered in a soft carpet of sand. As the two cats arrived at the top of the slope, Rainpaw noticed two _other_ cats were already there. The dark ginger tabby, Brackenstorm, was training with his apprentice.

"Run at me," Brackenstorm ordered. Buzzardpaw hissed and crouched down. He sprang at his mentor, landing on the tabby's back. Brackenstorm lurched sharply to the side, dislodging his apprentice. Buzzardpaw toppled to the ground with a frustrated mew.

 _My new denmate._ "Hey, Buzzardpaw!" Rainpaw bounded down the slope towards the ginger tom. "I'm an apprentice now! You missed the ceremony, though."

Buzzardpaw scrambled to his paws and shook sand out of his pelt. He huffed when he saw her. "I don't need to see a ceremony for you to be an apprentice," he grumbled, flicking the fine pale earth into the air with a swish of his tail. He turned away and trotted back to his mentor.

"Okay, then. If you want to be such an annoying, bossy mouse-brain!" Rainpaw retorted in a yowl, trying not to show that she was hurt from his irritable response. She trotted back to Cloudstorm, who was stood watching with his whiskers twitching in amusement.

"They'll be plenty of time to talk," Cloudstorm mewed, beckoning his new apprentice with his tail. "Come on, let's go to the ThunderClan border." They set off again at a steady lope through the woods.

Rainpaw kept twisting her head from side to side as she ran; drinking in all the new forest sights and smells. At one point they bounded past a massive oak tree, the floor strewn with last leaf-fall's brown and golden leaves, and Rainpaw couldn't help pouncing on them.

She let out a little meow of excitement as she landed on the soft pile, sending leaves flying everywhere. Twisting and leaping to catch them, she chased every leaf, unaware that her scuffling paws were sending even more flying into the air. Rainpaw imagined they were birds that she was catching, to bring home to feed her hungry Clan. _I'll be the best hunter in the forest!_

She was so absorbed in her task and its fun, she didn't notice him until Cloudstorm's paw crackled on a brittle leaf. Rainpaw jerked to halt, suddenly remembering what they had actually came out to do. She couldn't read the expression on Cloudstorm's face. Was he angry that she'd been playing around like a kit?

Her fur burning with embarrassment, Rainpaw opened her mouth to apologize, but Cloudstorm interrupted. "Don't. It's okay, Rainpaw." His eyes were sparkling with amusement. "When we get back, I'll tell the rest of the Clan you can catch leaves already!"

"I can catch more than just _leaves_! I'd catch real prey if you _taught_ me!" she protested, outraged. But then she caught his stony expression and realised she'd gone too far. "Sorry, Cloudstorm," Rainpaw mumbled, shuffling her paws.

"It's all right. You're still a kit, remember," Cloudstorm meowed, softening when he saw her remorse. He nudged her to her paws and led her on through the forest. "And even apprentices are allowed to have fun!" Rainpaw remembered once watching Fernpaw and Copperpaw play-fighting. They hadn't been using their battle moves at all; they were just tussling and pouncing on each other, eyes bright with amusement. Feeling better, Rainpaw purred and trotted to catch up with her cloudy-furred mentor.

Finally Cloudstorm held out his tail to stop Rainpaw. "This is the border with ThunderClan," he meowed. _Duh!_ Rainpaw thought sarcastically, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes. She sniffed the air, gazing at the forest beyond. It looked dark and cramped, with foliage spilling out between each tree. Brambles were tangled among bracken and ferns, their sharp thorns glinting in the light. A sour smell like rotting leaves slammed into the roof of Rainpaw's mouth, and she almost gagged. "Yuck! That forest looks like a horrible place to live." She wondered how the ThunderClan cats managed to even _move_ in their territory. It looked so cramped, with sharp spiky undergrowth completely covering the floor.

Cloudstorm nodded. "That's why we're SkyClan!" he meowed proudly. "Come on, I'll take you round to RiverClan."

Rainpaw followed him through the woods. She kept glancing into ThunderClan territory, wondering where all the ThunderClan cats were. She was longing to see a cat from another Clan... but the border was quiet, and the only noise came from the wind rustling the leaves in the trees. The trees along the border were mixed with wild pine trees, and their sharp, tangy scent clung to the two cats' pelts. Rainpaw purred as they trotted over a carpet of pine needles. The needles pricked her paws but, once she got used to that, the apprentice enjoyed the spongy feeling underneath. It made her want to bounce around like a kit, but this time she remembered her dignity and followed her mentor obediently.

A rushing noise not unlike the sound of wind in the treetops caught Rainpaw's attention. Pricking her ears, she stared ahead and scented the air. The wind felt moist. "Is it the river?" she meowed to Cloudstorm curiously, her eyes wide.

Cloudstorm nodded. "We're at the border with RiverClan."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Wow! Let's go and see it!" Rainpaw charged ahead, following the cold, wet smell. She hardly heard Cloudstorm calling for her to slow down as she swerved past trees, stumbling over her own paws in excitement. Then she found herself brushing past willow trees, their long green curtains of leaves almost reaching the ground.

Beyond that was the river. It flowed swiftly between the steep muddy banks, the black water broken by rocks that jutted above the surface. Dark with water and half-covered in moss, the stones looked easy to jump across. Rainpaw crouched low to the ground, her eyes fixed on them. She wondered whether to use them as stepping stones and try to make her way across.

"Rainpaw! Get back!" Cloudstorm spat from behind. Rainpaw looked round in surprise, and slowly made her way away from the edge of the bank.

"I just wanted to see the river," she mewed, feeling defensive.

Cloudstorm glared at her and growled, "We're so close to enemy territory! You can't just run off whenever you feel like it! What if a RiverClan patrol found you?" His blue eyes burned into hers. One set of blue eyes pale like a leaf-bare sky, the other wide, young, and a darker shade.

"I-I'm sorry," Rainpaw mewed. "Where's the border?" She twisted round to lap at her ruffled fur. Her pelt was mostly white on the underside, but with lots of silver-and-grey dapples spreading down from her back like the shadow of leaves on a forest floor, some dark, some light... only they were grey, not black.

"Over there," Cloudstorm meowed, flicking his tail upstream. "You see where the trees thin out? Beyond that, there's a copse of birch trees. The birch trees are RiverClan's land."

"Can we go and see?" Rainpaw mewed tentatively. She half-thought Cloudstorm would say no, refuse to punish her for running away. But the warrior nodded and led her through to where the treeline ended.

"Ugh," Rainpaw made a noise of disgust as a slimy, oily fish smell hit her scent glands. Scrunching up her nose, she flicked her tongue in and out like a snake, as if to try and ward away the smell.

"That's RiverClan scent," Cloudstorm purred. "And don't be so rude. If a RiverClan cat saw you he'd be pretty offended."

Rainpaw stopped making a face and looked up with a shrug. "Not every cat smells as great as us, I suppose," she meowed.

Cloudstorm's whiskers quivered. He seemed to have forgiven her for running to the river, and Rainpaw relaxed again. "Now you've seen the borders," her mentor meowed, "follow me!" He set off, pelting through the forest further in to SkyClan territory.

"Hey!" Rainpaw yelped. "Wait for me!" She ran after her mentor as the woodland swallowed up the two cats once again. _This is my home_ , Rainpaw thought, breathing in the scent of green growing things. Joy bubbled through her. It felt great to be a SkyClan apprentice!

"Stop," Cloudstorm meowed. Rainpaw skidded to a halt by his side, her flanks heaving as she fought for breath. She rasped her tongue over each of her pads. They were burning slightly from running through the forest.

"Where are we?" Rainpaw mewed, looking around. They were in a grassy glade, lit up with sunlight. Rainpaw stretched and felt the sun's heat warming her dappled fur. It felt nice! There was a tree growing in the centre of the clearing – a huge oak with spreading branches. Rainpaw tipped back her head to look at it. She couldn't see the top.

"This is the Climbing Tree," Cloudstorm explained. "It's a place where we teach young apprentices to climb."

"Oh, wow!" Rainpaw unsheathed her claws. She had seen SkyClan warriors leap through the trees, as graceful and agile as squirrels. It was a big part of being SkyClan. "Teach me," she meowed determinedly.

"That's what we came here to do," Cloudstorm reminded his apprentice lightly. "Now, I'd like you to follow me. Put your paws exactly where I put mine, and watch how I keep my balance." He trotted up to the tree. The bark was ridged and pitted with tiny holes, but there were no branches for him to leap up to. Rainpaw watched his claws slide smoothly from their sheaths, gleaming silver in the sunlight.

Cloudstorm leaped, fastening his claws into the bark. Rainpaw narrowed her blue eyes, studying how he gripped the bark with his forepaws. His back paws rested on the trunk of the tree. He used his claws to drag himself up, until he reached the lowest branch.

Rainpaw followed him, clawing her way up the bark until she was sat beside Cloudstorm. "It gets easier now we've reached the branches," the grey and white tom meowed. "This time, don't wait for me – just follow me a few pawsteps behind." He set off again, with Rainpaw hard on his heels.

It was a lot easier now they could leap from branch to branch. Rainpaw focused on Cloudstorm's paws, placing her own small pads where his left the bark. Together they weaved past the leaves that brushed their pelts with a cool, gentle touch, climbing to the smaller, more slender branches.

Then Rainpaw caught sight of the ground. It was so far down; the tree roots seemed the size of twigs. Everything was swaying as the wind buffeted the branches. Rainpaw felt panic jolt through her. She let out a terrified mew. The apprentice was hardly aware that her paws were slipping away from the branch. Then Rainpaw felt herself tumbling through the air, and she let out a yowl of fear.

"Rainpaw!" she heard Cloudstorm cry out in surprise. Then something hard slammed into her, and she stopped falling. All the breath was knocked from her body and she laid motionless, limp and fighting for air.

"Rainpaw! Are you all right?" Cloudstorm meowed again. Rainpaw blinked, stirring. She realised she had fallen down to a lower branch. Digging her claws firmly into the smooth bark, she stood up and squeezed her eyes shut. After a few heartbeats of feeling the branch sway beneath her, she deemed herself used to the rhythm, and opened her eyes again.

"I'm all right!" Rainpaw gasped. "I'm coming up now." She scrambled back up the tree, forcing herself to look up, not down. She felt hot with embarrassment; her fur seemed to trap the heat inside her body. She felt her cheeks burn as she clumsily hauled herself back up under Cloudstorm's anxious gaze.

"Well done!" her mentor praised her as she reached him. Rainpaw looked away, still embarrassed. She hadn't done anything well – she could have killed herself, falling off the tree like a bird-brained kit. Cloudstorm added, "I think this is high enough. Let's go down–" He cut himself off.

Rainpaw looked up, following his gaze. A blackbird was hopping up and down a branch close by. It looked so easy, so tantalizingly close... Rainpaw felt her muscles tense as the muzzle-watering scent reached her nose. As if he sensed this, Cloudstorm pressed his pelt against hers warningly.

"Now, birds are SkyClan's most common prey," he murmured, his muzzle close to Rainpaw's ear. "Catching them in trees is hard, so do you want me to show you? Or would you prefer me to tell you, and then you try it out yourself?"

Rainpaw thought of how the ground had swayed dangerously below her. "You show me," she whispered, clenching her paws tight over the branch.

Cloudstorm nodded. "Watch carefully." He began to walk to the edge of the branch. Rainpaw held her breath as it bobbed under her paws. Cloudstorm's ears were flat to his head and he moved slowly, keeping to where the leaves were covering him. He paused, ready to pounce.

The two SkyClan cats froze as a sudden rustling startled the bird. It lifted its wings ready to take flight – And then a ginger paw raked the air out of nowhere. Claws snagged on the bird's feathers and, before the two cats' disbelieving eyes, the bird was dragged off its branch.

Cloudstorm hissed furiously, lashing his tail. Rainpaw darted to his side and the two cats peered down to the forest floor. A plump ginger cat was sat on the carpet of leaves, watching them with smug yellow eyes. The light gleamed on a vibrant collar around its neck. As it moved its head, a bell jangled. Rainpaw winced. The sound was so unnatural, a high-pitched note, it would scare away any prey in the area.

"A kittypet!" Cloudstorm spat. His tail was bushed up to twice its size and his eyes were burning.

"Stealing _our_ prey!" Rainpaw meowed angrily, dropping her eyes to slits of blue.

"Follow me." Cloudstorm began to clamber down the tree, his nimble paws moving quickly as he leaped from branch to branch. Rainpaw followed, stumbling over her own legs and stubbing her toes on the branches. When they reached the ground, the kittypet had picked up his kill and was running away, his bell ringing with each pawstep.

"After him!" Cloudstorm yowled. The young warrior pelted forwards in pursuit. Rainpaw plunged through the woods after him. The thrill of the chase sang in her bones and welled up inside her like a trapped bird spreading its wings. Panting and pushing herself even harder to keep up with her mentor, her paws flew over the forest floor.

"Rainpaw, stop!" Cloudstorm mewed. A wooden fence loomed up at them. Rainpaw skidded to a halt so suddenly the momentum made her fall over. She landed with a thud on her belly in the dirt. Dust swirled around her fur.

The kittypet was gone, and SkyClan's bird was gone with it.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Cloudstorm's eyes blazed. "Mouse-dung!" he spat. "We can't follow the kittypet in there. Let's go back and report this to Flystar." He turned and began to pad away.

Rainpaw scrambled to her paws, tipping her head back to peer up at the top of the fence. The wood was smooth and made of strange shapes all fitted together. Why couldn't they go into Twolegplace and continue chasing the kittypet? She imagined again the scorn in the fat cat's eyes, and indignation burned through her. Rainpaw wished they could show that arrogant Twoleg pet that SkyClan were strong and powerful. _I'd go in there and rip his fur off!_ But Cloudstorm mewed her name, and she had no choice but to follow him.

"Do kittypets usually hunt in our territory?" Rainpaw asked curiously as they trotted back to camp.

"No, it's very rare." Cloudstorm shook his head. "Kittypets are given food from Twolegs, and usually they're just too fat and lazy to hunt prey. The strange thing is, this one actually managed to jump high enough into the air to catch the bird. Did you see how it dragged the blackbird off the branch? I think it saw a SkyClan patrol hunting, and has decided to copy our skills."

Rainpaw thought about that. "But why do they hunt? If they have food, there's no reason, is there?"

"No." Cloudstorm glared at the forest around him. "That's why it's so frustrating. I don't think the kittypet will eat that bird." Rainpaw growled softly to herself, feeling the hostile rumble in her throat a bit like a purr.

By the time they entered camp, the sun was setting and casting a rosy orange light over the peaceful clearing. Rainpaw's paws were aching and her head and tail drooped from exhaustion. Cats were lounging around in the soft dimming light, sharing prey and talking softly.

Cloudstorm turned to Rainpaw. He only just seemed to realise how tired she was. "You go to sleep," he meowed softly. "I'll report to Flystar."

Rainpaw blinked blearily and shook her head. "I want to hear what Flystar says," she mewed stubbornly.

Cloudstorm trotted across the camp to Flystar's den, nodding to Petalfall, the deputy, who was sat on one of the thorn tree's roots. Petalfall's pale pelt glowed pink in the light; her green eyes shone luminous as she returned Rainpaw's mentor's gesture.

Rainpaw put on a last burst of energy and bounded after Cloudstorm. Politely she sat beside the entrance to Flystar's den, ready to question Cloudstorm as soon as he emerged. All she could hear was the low buzz of voices. Impatiently Rainpaw angled her ears towards the den, but she couldn't even catch any emotions in the cats' mews.

After what seemed like seasons, Cloudstorm padded out of the den. Rainpaw was shocked to see the expression of fury on his face. His eyes leapt with blue fire. "C-Cloudstorm?" she mewed hesitantly. "What happened? What did Flystar say?"

Cloudstorm turned to her. As soon as she looked at him Rainpaw knew he wouldn't tell her anything. "It's... warrior stuff," he muttered distractedly. "Now go and rest. Your first proper day of training starts tomorrow."

Rainpaw swallowed her annoyance. She turned and padded away. The other apprentices were gathering outside their den. Fernpaw trotted over with her jaws full of prey. "Here we go," the dark tabby mewed cheerfully. "Enough for all of us!"

Rainpaw purred. "Thanks, Fernpaw." She chose a plump squirrel and settled down between Fawnpaw, the medicine cat apprentice, and Fernpaw herself. Buzzardpaw and Copperpaw faced them opposite, tearing hungrily at their own pieces of fresh-kill. The SkyClan apprentices shared news about their own training, and Fernpaw gossiped endlessly about things she'd heard about the warriors. Buzzardpaw and Copperpaw kept rolling their eyes and grumbling under their breath, but Rainpaw found it amusing and couldn't stop her whiskers from twitching.

As the ghost of the moon grew brighter in the darkening sky, the apprentices finished their meals and padded into their den. Rainpaw scraped moss together to make herself a nest, and curled up in it with a contented sigh. It felt good to finally rest her sore paws.

What had happened between Flystar and Cloudstorm? Whatever Flystar had said, it must have been bad to make Cloudstorm so angry.


End file.
